Theme: "Different, yet the same," within our families and in our family celebrations. We are all culturally diverse, coming from different ethnic backgrounds, yet we are alike in so many ways. Our families are important to us and we value our celebrations, holidays, and traditions shared with family and friends.

Targeted Grade: 2-3

Unit Overview: These lesson plans would be used during reading time and could be incorporated into social studies and art, as well. Reading class lasts for 1 1/2 hours, with the children rotating through three groups, 30 minutes each. In two of the groups they meet with teachers, the classroom teacher and a reading specialist. In the third group, they work independently at centers to complete projects or writing assignments. Each group is heterogeneous, so the children are of mixed ability. The ethnic mix of the class is predominantly white, with some African American and some Hispanic students present. This theme was chosen to be used near the winter holidays so that a comparison of Christmas customs could be used. Most of the authors studied have published a book containing the Christmas customs of their nationality written in story form, although the theme is not limited to the Christmas holiday.

Overall Goals: The main thrust of this unit is to expose the children to a variety of cultural traditions they may not have been familiar with. It is hoped that it will foster an appreciation of diversity among cultures and that the students will recognize the many similarities between their own families and those portrayed in the books they have been reading.

Children’s Literature Resources:

Ada, Alma Flor. (1993) My Name is Maria Isabel. New York: Atheneum.

Ada, Alma Flor. !997) The Christmas Tree: El Arbol de Navidad. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

Ada, Alma Flor. (1994) Where the Flame Trees Bloom. New York: Atheneum.

Ada, Alma Flor, Harris, Violet J., Hopkins, Lee Bennett. (1993) A Chorus of Cultures: Developing Literacy Through Multicultural Poetry. Carmel, CA: Hampton-Brown Books.

Friedman, Ina R (1984) How My Parents Learned to Eat. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Hamilton, Virginia. (1989) The Bells of Christmas. San Diego: Harcourt, Brace, Javanovich.

Joseph, Lynn. (1992) An Island Christmas. New York: Clarion Books.

Soto, Gary. (1997) Snapshots From the Wedding. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

Soto, Gary. (1993) Too Many Tamales. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

Objective: To discuss a family celebration, such as a wedding, family reunion, first communion, graduation, or other gathering including friends and extended family. To notice how the family in this story is the same as the students’ families, even though they are of Mexican-American descent. Students of Hispanic background may be able to verify similarities and differences.

Materials: Snapshots of a Wedding by Gary Soto, several sheets of white and colored construction paper, crayons, glue or other art supplies.

Anticipatory set: Play the Wedding March or some music from Mexico that would set the tone for a fiesta, including a mariachi band. Ask the children what they think of when they hear this music. Bring about discussion of family holidays and celebrations.

Procedure: After the tone is set, read the story. Discuss similarities and differences of weddings or family parties within their family. Point out that the family in this story is of Hispanic heritage -- make comparisons. Then, tell the children they will be making a photo album similar to the book. Have them make sequential pictures from a family event on the white paper and cut them out like photographs. Then make captions for the pictures. These will then be glued to the colored paper which will be bound into book form.

Closure: Share the family albums in the small groups and tell about their families and their special celebrations. This make take several days to do the story, and the album, during their reading groups. The discussion should be done with a teacher and the album could be made during the independent time, with some guidance.

Evaluation: Were the children able to make an album that tells the story of a family event, in the proper sequence? Did their album turn out somewhat in the format of the picture book that was read? Were they able to be drawn into the discussion and share willingly about a special family event? Did the small groups give them a greater forum for discussion?

Objective: To read a novel about a Hispanic girl and her struggles being a new student. The celebration of Christmas is an important event in this story, so the students will discuss how they celebrate Christmas and make comparisons to how Maria Isabel feels about the Christmas pageant.

Materials: The short novel, My Name is Maria Isabel by Alma Flor Ada, the picture book An Island Christmas, an undecorated bulletin board, art paper, paper towel rolls for palm trees, sandpaper for sand, seashells, and other general art supplies. A map of the island of Trinidad.

Anticipatory Set: Play island calypso music, preferably something for Christmas. The students will have been reading the novel on a daily basis, and today they will compare Maria Isabel’s Christmas to that of Rosie from Trinidad. Locate Trinidad on a map.

Procedure: The picture book will be read, then the children will compare their own Christmas traditions to that of Rosie on the island and Maria in the city. The blank bulletin board will be their palate for making an island Christmas, complete with palm trees and sand and an ocean. Making things three dimensional would be the best, and this can be an ongoing project during this unit, since it will take some time. Each group can work on it during their independent time.

Closure: After the stories have been read, begin to discuss variations in how families spend their Christmases and what traditions they observe. Since Maria likes the Hanukkah song so much, this can also include a discussion of the Jewish holiday.

Evaluation: The completeness and enthusiasm used in decorating the mural on the bulletin board will reflect the students’ interest in this project. The depth of their discussion of the stories of Maria and Rosie and of their own family Christmases will also indicate their interest and motivation in learning more about other cultures and traditions.

Objective: To compare two families’ celebrations of the Christmas holiday. Because it is near Christmas time, stories of Christmas traditions are being read and related to this family tradition’s unit.

Materials: There has been an ongoing reading of the novel My Name is Maria Isabel by Alma Flor Ada, a story which culminates with a Christmas pageant. Two more picture books will be read during the small groups with the two teachers. One book, The Bells of Christmas by Virginia Hamilton, is about an African American celebration during the 1890’s. The other book, Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto, is about a Hispanic family’s Christmas celebration and gathering. Another book that could be substituted here is The Christmas Tree: El Arbol de Navidad by Alma Flor Ada, a story about a Hispanic family’s decoration of their Christmas tree. Large sheets of paper for the making of charts or Venn Diagrams and markers are needed.

Anticipatory Set: Talk about favorite family holidays at this time of year and review what the students learned in the stories of An Island Christmas and in the story of Maria Isabel. Discuss and list some of the holiday foods they enjoy making at this time of year and whether they are part of their family’s ethnic tradition.

Procedure: The students will hear each of these picture books in the groups led by the teachers. On their own, they will work with a partner to make a chart comparing the similarities and differences between the stories of the past and the present, and of the two different cultures represented in each story. They may use a Venn Diagram or a similar graphic organizer to help them separate the facts into the correct categories. There will also be an area of overlap, where the traditions are similar even though they take place at different times in history and in different cultures.

Closure: Share the charts within the groups when complete. As a group, plan a holiday food that they want to prepare in class since food is an important part of the celebration, as in Too Many Tamales.

Evaluation: The discussion after the stories will indicate the students’ level of understanding of what has been read to them. The completeness and accuracy of their charts or Venn Diagrams will indicate their understanding of the similarities and differences in the two celebrations of Christmas. These will be presented to the rest of the small groups the next day and will be discussed at that time.

Objective: To read and discuss a family story that is not related to the Christmas holiday, but which includes elements of the family tradition of eating together as a family.

Materials: How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina Friedman and enough chop sticks, rice and paper plates for the class, as well as their journals. A map of Japan.

Anticipatory set: Show several informational books on the Japanese culture, pictures, foods, and utensils and share any Japanese artifacts owned by the students or teachers. Locate Japan on a map.

Procedure: In a reading group meeting with a teacher, read How My Parents Learned to Eat, and share information on the Japanese culture. Important traditions from her family are being shared by the person telling the story. The importance of the differing ways they eat emphasizes the cultural differences in the sailor and his girlfriend, but they are able to combine their cultures within their own family. Discuss whether any of the students’ families share two cultures and two sets of traditions.

Closure: Let the students have a small amount of rice on a paper plate and try to eat it using chop sticks, for a greater understanding of the difficulty of eating with utensils which are foreign to them. Have them sit on a blanket on the floor for a true picture of how the Japanese people eat their meals. Play some Japanese music to set the tone for the meal.

Evaluation: Have the students journal about the story and about their experience of eating with chopsticks. They should try to use a good deal of descriptive language. The quality and depth of the writing the students have done will indicate their interest and involvement with this story and activity.

Objective: To understand family traditions in a story about the author’s great-grandmother and to talk about grandparents and older relatives and their importance in our lives.

Materials: Where the Flame Trees Bloom by Alma Flor Ada, books on antique dolls and handmade dolls, and examples of handmade and antique dolls, quilts, and afghans. Needed for a craft project: socks, yarn, fabric scraps, buttons, glue, thread, needles, and scissors, and a map of Cuba.

Anticipatory Set: Share books with pictures of dolls and how to make dolls. Share old or handmade dolls and other items brought by the teachers or the students. Also, any other handmade items made by a relative would be inspiring to share. Locate the island of Cuba on a map.

Procedure: The teacher should read the chapter of Where the Flame Trees Bloom dealing with the great-grandmother that made dolls from fabric scraps, a tradition in the author’s family. This story might encourage the students to think of their own grandparents or other relatives and things they make, either to sell or as gifts. Encourage them to discuss or journal about these things, complete with pictures. Compare this story with other stories of family traditions they have been reading.

Closure: Allow the students the opportunity to make sock puppets (dolls), using the old socks, fabric scraps, trims, yarn, needle and thread as well as glue. They will get a feeling for making something for someone and the finished dolls can be displayed on a bulletin board or used in impromptu puppet shows.

Evaluation: The depth of discussion and understanding the students show about the value of these handmade items will indicate how such things are valued in their families. The importance and value of grandparents and other elderly relatives within the family can be discussed or written about. Boys and girls alike should enjoy the opportunity to make something, as the dolls can be boys or girls. No matter what culture they are from, they can appreciate grandparents and it will be interesting to see if there are any cultural differences within the class related to the value of grandparents and extended family.

A sharing activity among all the classes in the grade level would be a good way to culminate this unit. Assuming all the classes had read the same books and done the activities, they can rotate among four stations in four different classrooms. At one, the students will have a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, at gym class they will learn the basics of martial arts, in music class they will learn some traditional music from Trinidad, Cuba, Mexico or Japan, and in art class they will make origami birds or bright paper Mexican flowers. Another option would be to make a large quantity of a traditional food, such as the tamales from Mexico. These activities would be fun for the children, though not at a deep cultural level. They involve more than one of the intelligences and would bring the classes together for their own traditional celebration of the holidays.

A personal culmination for each student would be for them to write to the author of their favorite story or book that was read, since there is a good variety of literature represented. They could tell the author why they liked his/her book and what projects the class did after they read the book.

Not mentioned in the lesson plans is the use of poetry in the book A Chorus of Cultures: Developing Literacy Through Multicultural Poetry. These poems can be used relating to the Christmas holiday, or grandparents, or any other theme used in the lessons. The poems are short and the children can be encouraged to write their own poetry and possibly create a book of these poems.

Return to lesson plans page: